The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, and more particularly, to an image processing apparatus for extracting an area surrounded by an edge line as an area of interest.
Image processing apparatuses have been used in a variety of industrial fields. In particular, image processing apparatuses are utilized in medical electronics to process X-ray, ultrasonic, and MRI images. In medical image processing, a line is drawn to surround a specific area of a medical diagnosis image, and an image portion in the specific area is emphasized with reference to the edge. For example, in order to measure a volume of a heart, the edge of the heart is extracted from its tomographic image. The inner volume of the heart is measured on the basis of the edge image. In this case, in order to obtain an image of the area surrounded by the edge line, image processing called painting is performed. Painting is performed by software according to a conventional technique, thus requiring a long period of time.